Chapter 4 - the emergence of action Flashcards
reflex
an innate response that occurs automatically to a particular form of stimulation
patellar reflex
an early-emerging reflex, also known as the “knee jerk reflex,” involving the extension of the lower leg when the tendon at the knee cap is abruptly pressed
rooting reflex
a reflex found in newborns in which a gentle touch on the results in movement of the face as to bring the mouth around the touching object
grasp reflex
a reflex found in newborns in which they will grasp an object when it is pressed against their palm
stepping reflex
a newborn reflex of engaging in repetitive stepping motion when held upright
moro reflex
a reflex found in young infants in which an abrupt lack of support of the head results in an outward and upward movement of the arms
maturational account
an account of development in which developmental change is largely attributed to biological maturation as opposed to experience
motor deprivation
a condition under which an organism is either prevented from moving or not given the opportunity to pair movement with perception or objects acted upon
dynamic systems theory
a theory of motor development that stresses the importance of the physics of the limb and the environment in which an action is made in addition to central cortical control programs
perceptual-motor development
development that proceeds through an integration with perceptual feedback. While normally discussed with respect to vision, it can also apply to other modalities
prereaching
mostly failed attempts to touch objects by very young infants
visual flow fields
the streaming visual patterns made by objects and terrain over time as they flow by an observer who is either moving or is having the environment move about her
affordances
the possibilities for action based on the properties of the objects or surfaces on which the action will be performed. The same object may have different affordances for different organisms
mirror neuron
a neuron in the brain that is activated both when performing an action and when perceiving it being performed by others and that is thought to support imitation
imprinting
a form of learning that takes place during a critical period in which young members of a species acquire a behavior or response patterns that remains permanent after the critical period is over
classical conditioning
a form of learning in which the pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus results in a conditioned response
unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that normally elicits an unconditioned response
unconditioned response
a response that is normally associated with a stimulus without the need of associative learning
conditioned response
a response that becomes associated with a stimulus that normally does not elicit a response
conditioned stimulus
a stimulus that becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus but that would not normally elicit a response
behaviorism
the view that psychology is best understood as describing the effects of external contingencies on behavior and not by referring to unseen mental events and representations
tabula rasa
a “blank writing tablet” or “blank slate,” used as a metaphor by empiricists to describe the nerborn’s mind as completely malleable by experience; originally used in a Latin translation of Aristotle, but attributed to John Locke, who actually used the metaphor “white paper”
operant conditioning
a form of learning in which desired behaviors are gradually approximated in an organism through schedules of positive and negative reinforcement for increasingly accurate versions of the desired behavior; also called instrumental conditioning
shaping
the gradual modification of a behavior through operant conditioning, by gradually rewarding behaviors as they come closer and closer to resembling a desired behavior
blocking
a phenomenon in classical conditioning in which pre-training with one conditioned stimulus can interfere with (block) the formation of an association with a subsequent conditioned stimulus
prepared
having a tendency to associate a class of responses with one class of stimuli than with another without having prior experience with those stimuli